Governor



Oct. 24, 1939.

GOVERNOR Original Filed April so, 1957 M. GOTTLIEB 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 a. WITNESSES: 111A INVENTOR 71?. F G- 2 Mmvlous GOTTLIEB- BY 6. 46 I a a I M ATTORNEY M. GOTTLIEB Oct. 24, 1939.

GOVERNOR Original Filed April 30, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR MHNIOUS GOTTLIEB. BY w, n. M] ATTORNEY wlTNE sgEsi Oct. 24, 1939. M. GOTTLIEB 2,177,063

GOVERNOR Original Filed April 50, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 WITNESSES: INVENTOR 7% WW MH/wous GOTTLIEB.

' BY Q, fl fl ATTORN EY "magnum I v I I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE" GOVERNOR Manious Gottlieb.Philadelphia, l'a., asclgnor to Westinghouse Electric in Manufacturing Company, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application April 30, 1937, Serial No. 140,063 Renewed February 4', 1939 I 4 Claims. (Cl. 264-15) My invention relates to a centrifugal fly-ball Referring to the drawings in detail, the steam governor, and it has for an object to provide turbine II is of any desired type. having an adimproved apparatus. mission valve II and a governor I! which is con- Another object is to provide a governor that structed in accordance with the present inven- 5 effects close speed regulation, and which has tlon, enclosed within a governor housing l3 and 5 greater power for operating an admission valve connected through a lever It to the valve II. or other mechanism. The governor. as shown more fully in Fig. 2, com- A further object is to provide a governor in prises a rotating housing i5 which includes a which sliding friction is eliminated, whereby member l6 screw-threaded to the end of the tur- 10 greater sensitivity is obtained. bine shaft I l' and asecond member ll secured to 10 Another object is to provide a governor, the the member IS. The housing member I! is operation of which is not appreciably affected by formed with projecting lugs l8, shown in Figs. 2 a small degree of misalignment between the parts and 3, which serve for mounting the weight of the governor or between the governor and the members I! and which project into the housing valve operating lever, such as encountered in ormember I6. Bolts 2| are ,inserted through the 15 dinary manufacturing process. housing member [6 into said projections i8 for In accordance with my invention, I provide a securing the housing members it and IT to governor in which three or more centrifugal gether. weight members are mounted on a rotating hous- As will be noted in Fig. 3, there are three weight mg or driving member, preferably by ball bearmembers I9 although there may be more if de- 20 ings, and bear axially against a thrust member. sired. There are two spaced projecting mem- The thrust member is biased against the weight bers It for each weight member, the latter bemembers, preferably by a spring acting between ing mounted therebetween by a ball bearing 22 the thrust member and the driving member. The carried on a pin 23 extending through the two 25 thrust member is formed with an annular conical projecting members l8. The pins 23 are re- 25 surface, and the weight members are formed tained longitudinally in proper position by enwith curved surfaces bearing against the conical gagement with the interior of the housing memsurface, the curved surfaces being formed so that ber It as shown in Fig. 3. Washers 24 are propure rolling contact takes place between the vided for spacing the bearing 22 from the procurved and the conical surfaces. The thrust jections It, so that any sudden thrust on the 30 member is centered solely by the rolling contact. weight member l9, due to sudden change in It is connected through a self-aligning bearing to speed, is taken by the bearing 22, which has two an axially extending member, through which the rows of balls. Thus, only rolling friction of the axial controlling movements of the governor are ball bearings is incurred, and sliding friction transmitted. The thrust member is free to tilt with the projections i8 is avoided. 35 in any direction under the influence of the result- The weight members l9 are provided with ant of the spring and the governor weight forces axially extending weight arms 25, which constiacting thereon. tute the centrifugal weights and which are mov- The above and other objects are effected by my able in radial direction under varying centrifugal invention as will be apparent from the following force. The center of gravity of the weight memdescription and claims taken in connection with her is located at 26, which is approximately the the accompanying drawings, forming a part of center of the weight arm 25. Each weight memthis application, in which: her I! is formed with a lug or toe 21 projecting Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a steam turbine radially toward the axis of the turbine shaft, indiembodying my novel form of governor; cated at 28. The lug 21 is formed with a curved 45 Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view through surface 29, as shown in Fig. 4, engaging the conthe governor; ical surface it of a thrust member 32. The lat- Flg. 3 is a cross section taken on the line ter may have a separate piece 30 of harder mate- Il.I-III of Fig. 2; rial to provide the conical surface. A- spring 33 Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail view of one feature is provided for opposing the centrifugal force of 50 of the invention; and, the weight members, and in the present form Fig. 5 is a sectional view showing a device, concomprises a helical spring disposed concentrically trolled by my novel form of governor, for proof the shaft axis 28. It abuts at one end against viding a variable fluid pressure, and a. valve opthe thrust member 32 and at the other end crating mechanism controlled thereby. against an abutment member 34 screw-threaded 55 in the housing member l1, as shown at 35. Ad- ,iustment of the spring may be effected by turning the member 34.

The thrust member 32 is connected by means of a self-aligning ball thrust bearing 39 to one end of a tubular connecting member 31, which extends axially of the shaft from said thrust member to the lever l4 and is connected to the latter. The ball bearing 39 includes two annular rows of balls 38 and the outer race 39 carried by the tubular member 31 is spherical, so as to permit the thrust member 32 to tilt in any direction about the center ll of the spherical surface 39. The tubular member 31 is formed with dams 42 and 43 for retaining lubricant for the ball bearing 35.

The thrust member 32 is centered with respect to the axis 29 solely by engagement of its conical surface 3| with the curved surfaces 29 of the weight members. I prefer to form the conical surface 3| at an angle of about 45 to said axis, inasmuch as this figure provides the best compromise between centering the thrust member and providing minimum resultant radial thrust on the weight members which must be taken by the ball bearings 22.

An important feature of the governor is the formation of the surfaces 29 and 3| so as to obtain pure rolling contact therebetween, thereby avoiding sliding friction. I have found that if these surfaces are designed in accordance with an ordinary gear tooth, pure rolling contact is obtained only at the pitch circle. I provide a variable pitch circle such that the contact is always at the pitch circle. The conical surface 3| having been chosen to be at 45 to'the axis, the curved surface 29 is determined as follows: The point of contact is always to be in the plane, indicated on the drawings at 44, which passes through the axes 45 of the bearings 22, and which is normal to the axis 28. The surface 29 is formed so that at each point the tangent to the surface is at an angle of 45 to a radial line extending through said point and the. axis 45 of the bearings 22. The resultant surface is, theoretically speaking, an involute. By trial, however, I find a true arc that coincides within .0001 inch with the developed curvature. Accordingly, in practice I form the surface 29 along such true arc, since the same can be manufacturedmuch more expediently and as accurately as the theoretical involute could actually be produced. Thus, the distance between any two contact points on the cone is exactly equal to the corresponding developed distance on the curved surface.

It will be noted that as the centrifugal weights 25 move radially outwardly, the point of contact between the surfaces 29 and 3| moves away from the axis 45, so that the lever arm of the weight members acting on the thrust member 32, that is, the distance from the axis 45 to the point of contact, increases. This means that, for a given amount of centrifugal force of the weight members, the force imposed on the thrust member decreases, as will be readily understood. This decrease in the effective force is used for two purposes. First, it compensates for the increase in centrifugal force due to the increase in radius of the center of gravity 26 from the axis of rotation 28. Secondly, it decreases the valve lift adjacent the closed position and increases the valve lift per unit speed change as the valve approaches the fully opened position. This is desirable inasmuch as greater valve travel is required to effect a given change in the rate of admission of motive fluid through the valve H as it approaches full open position. With this arrangement, a ported valve to take care of this condition may be eliminated.

The operation of the above described embodiment is as follows. As the speed of the turbine increases, the centrifugal weights 25 move radially outwardly and the lugs 21 move the thrust member 32 to the right against the force of the spring 33. The tubular member 31 is moved to the right through the ball thrust bearing 36, and the thrust lever l4 moves the valve II in closing direction to decrease the supply of motive fluid. Upon decrease in speed, the centrifugal weights 25 are caused to move radially inwardly by the force of the spring 33, transmitted through the thrust member 32 and the lugs 21. The spring 33 also moves the valve II in opening direction.

It will be noted that the thrust member 32 does not having a sliding fit to center it, as in previous constructions, but is centered solely by the rolling contact of its conical surface 3| with the curved surfaces 29 of the weight members. It will also be noted that the weight member 32 is thus free to tilt in any direction about the center 4|. For example, should the mass of the weight 25 that is in the uppermost position on the drawings be slightly greater than the mass of the other weights, the upper portion of the thrust member 32 would tilt slightly to the right. As the thrust member thus tilts, the lever arm of the upper weight member |9 increases, so that the force effective to tilt the member 32 decreases as the weight 25 moves radially outwardly. Similarly, should the spring 33 exert a greater force at one point of the circumference of the thrust member 32, a condition frequently encountered with springs, the thrust member is free to tilt against the adjacent weight member. In this case, the centrifugal weight 25 is drawn radially inwardly, decreasing the lever arm of the weight member acting against the thrust member. Accordingly, the centrifugal force of the weight member becomes more effective to oppose the increased force of the spring at this point.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a centrifugal fly ball governor wherein sliding friction is eliminated, thereby increasing the sensitivity of the governor and also eliminating the possibility of binding, leaving only rolling friction, which is desirable to damp the movements of the governor.

I have found'that a governor constructed as shown and described effects accurate speed control and also provides ample power for moving the valve when applied to a turbine of about 500 kw., since a reater degree of power is available for actuating the steam admission valve than in prior constructions. I have also found that the hysteresis effect has been eliminated, that is, the governor will assume the same position for a given speed when moving in either direction.

In order to guard against an excessive degree of misalignment of the thrust member 32, I form a cylindrical bore 46 extending axially in alignment with a bore 41 in the housing member l5. A rod of slightly smaller diameter than said bore may be inserted into the bore 48, and if it can be inserted into the bore 41, the thrust member is within the necessary degree of alignment. If the rod cannot be inserted into the bore 41, an excessive degree of misalignment is indicated.

ernor |2 controls a power actuating device 5| through the intermediary of a pressure device 52 which provides a variable fluid pressure for controlling the device 5|.

The pressure device 52 includes a housing 53 bolted to the end of the governor housing l8. It has formed therein a passage 54,. connected through a conduit 55 to any suitable source of fluid under pressure, and a chamber 55 connected to a drain conduit 51. It also has formed therein a passage 58, connected by a conduit 58 to the power actuating device 5 I, for transmitting to the device 5| the variable fluid pressure for controlling the same. A pilot valve 5| is slidable in a bushing 52 secured in the housing 53. The righthand end of the pilot valve projects into a chamber 53, and is biased to the left by the fluid pressure therein. A passage 54 provides communication between the passage 58 and thechamber 53, a needle valve 65 being provided to restrict flow of fluid through the passage 54.

The bushing 52 is formed with fluid pressure supply ports 55 communicating with the supply passage 54, drain ports 51 communicating with the chamber 55 and ports 58 communicating with the passage 58. The pilot valve 6| has piston portions 68 and 10 cooperating with the ports 58 and 61, respectively, and a portion of reduced diameter 1|, cooperating with the ports 58.

Suitable provision may be made for spinning the pilot valve 5| to avoid static friction. To this end, a passage 12, provided with fluid pressure from the supply passage 54, directs a jet of fluid on a turbine wheel 13 flxed on the pilot valve for causing rotation thereof. The pilot valve 8| is biased to the right by a spring 14 interposed between the tubular member 31 of the governor and the pilot valve. The lefthand end of the spring bears against a spring holding member 15, screw-threaded into the end of the tubular member 31. and the right-hand end of the spring bears against a spring retainer 15 held by a diaphragm 11 and bearing against the left-hand end of the pilot valve. An opening 18 may be provided in the housing 53 to provide access for adjusting the spring retaining member 15 with respect to the tubular member 31'.

The power actuating device 5| includes a piston 18 operating in a cylinder 88 formed in a housing 8| and connected to the admission valve I through a lever 82. The piston 18 is biased downwardly, in valve opening direction, by a spring 83, and is moved upwardly by fluid pressure in the lower end of the cylinder 80. Fluid under pressure is supplied to the lower end of the cylinder 88 through a restricted passage 84 having a needle valve 85 for varying the restriction. The fluid pressure in the cylinder 88 below the piston 83 is controlled by controlling the escape of fluid therefrom. This is done by a port 85 in the piston controlled by a valve member 81. The valve member 81.is connected toa bellows 88, which is biased downwardly by a spring 88 and upwardly by the variable fluid pressure in a chamber 8|, transmitted through the conduit 58.

Suitable drain outlets 82 and 88 are provided.

The fluid pressure provided by the device 52 is conveyed through a conduit 82 to a chamber 83 and imposed on a bellows to which the valve member 8| is attached.

Figure 5-098fation The pressure device 52 provides a fluid pressure controlled by the governor I2 and increasing upon increase in speed and decreasing upon decrease in speed. In the neutral or cut-off position of l the pilot valve 5|, as shown on the drawings, the force of the spring 14 biasing the pilot valve to the right is balanced by the fluid pressure in the chamber 53 biasing the pilot valve to the left.

In this position of the pilot valve, the ports 58 and 51 are closed by the piston portions 58 and 10.

As the speed of the turbine increases, the tubular member 81 of the governor moves to the right and increases the compression of the spring 14. The latter. moves to the right, placing the ports 58 in communication with the pressure supply ports 55, thereby causing fluid under pressure to flow into the passage 58 to increase the pressure therein. The increase in fluid pressure is. communicated through the restricted passage 54 to the chamber 83, in which it is imposed on the end oi. the pilot valve 5| to bias the same to the left in opposition to the spring force. As soon as the pressure is increased an amount corresponding to the increase in spring force, the pilot valve 8| is returned to neutral or 'cutofl' position, thereby terminating any further increase in pressure.

Upon decrease in speed, the tubular member 81' moves to the left, so that the force exerted by the spring 14 is decreased and the pilot valve 5| moves to the left under the force of the fluid pressure in' the chamber. Fluid pressure from the passage 58 escapes to the drain ports 51, so that the pressure in the passage 58 decreases. When the fluid pressure 'has decreased to an amount corresponding to the decrease in speed,

the reduced fluid pressure in the chamber bal ances the reduced force of the spring 14 and the pilot valve 5| is returned to cut-off position.

The power actuating device 5| moves the admission valve to a position corresponding to the value of the fluid pressure transmitted to it by the pressure device 52 through the'conduit 58. Upon increase in pressure imposed on the bellows 88, the valve member 81 moves upwardly into the port 85 to cut of! the escape of' fluid therethrough. The fluid pressure beneath the piston thereupon increases due to the continued supply of fluid under pressure through the re stricted passage 84. The increased fluid pressure moves the piston 18 upwardly until the port 85 is again opened to such an extent as to permit the escape of the same quantity of fluid that is admitted through the restricted pasage 84. The valve H is thereby moved in closingdirection.

Upon decrease in fluid pressure in the chamber 8|, the valve member 81 moves downwardly under force of the spring 88, thereby increasing the escape of fluid through the port 85 and permitting the spring 88 to move the piston downwardly until the opening of the port 85 is again reduced to such an extent as to exhaust a quan-' It will thus be seen that the admission valve forms, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various other changes and modifications without departingfrom the spirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are specifically. set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a governor, a rotating driving casing, a

plurality of weights extending lengthwise of the interior of the casing, pivots for like ends of the weights and carried interiorly by the casing, the axes of the pivots being in a plane normal to the axis of rotation of the casing, each weight having a tooth which extends inwardly from its pivot, a thrust member having an annular surface engaging adjacent faces of said teeth, said faces of the teeth and said annular surface being arranged for rolling contact with radial movement of the weights and being so disposed that the points of rolling contact for all positions of the weights fall in said normal plane containing the pivot axes, a spring carried by said casing and exerting its force on the thrust member in opposition to the centrifugal efiect of said weights thereon, said thrust member being free of said casing and positioned entirely by the spring and points of tooth engagement, a link for transmitting movement due to axial displacement of said thrust member, and a universal connection between the link and the thrust member.

2 In a governor, a rotating driving casing, three weights extending lengthwise of the interior of the casing and spaced circumferentially of the latter, pivots for like ends of the weights and carried interiorly of the casing, the axes of the pivots being in a plane normal to the axis of rotation of the casing, each weight having a tooth which extends inwardly from its pivot, a thrust member having an annular surface engaging adjacent faces of said teeth, said 'faces of the teeth and said annular surface being arranged for rolling contact with radial movement of the weights and being so disposed that the points of rolling contact for all positions of the weights fall in said normal plane containing the pivot axes, a spring carried by said casing and exerting its force on the thrust member in opposition to the centrifugal effect of said weights thereon, said thrust member being free of said casing and positioned entirely by the spring and points of tooth engagement, 9. link for transmitting movement due to axial displacement of said thrust member, and a universal connection between the link and the thrust member and having its center, when the weights are in their mean position, arranged approximately in said normal plane of the pivot axa.

3. In a governor, a rotating driving casing, weights extending lengthwise of the interior of the casing, pivots for like ends of the weights and carried by the interior of the casing, said pivots having their axes arranged in a plane which is normal to the axis of rotation of the casing, each weight having an inwardly extending tooth, a thrust member having an annular surface engaging adjacent faces of said teeth, said annular surface being comprised by an element of a right cone and each tooth face being curved to have rolling contact therewith and the annular surface and the tooth faces being so disposed that the points of rolling contact fall in said normal plane of the pivot axes, a spring carried by said casing and exerting its force on the thrust member in opposition to the centrifugal effect of said weights, said thrust member being free of said casing and positioned entirely by the spring and points of tooth engagement, a link for transmitting movement due to the axial displacement of said thrust member, and a universal connection between the link and the thrust member comprised by a ball bearing permitting relative rotation of said thrust member in said link.

4. In a governor, a rotating driving casing, weights extending lengthwise of the interior of the casing, pivots for like ends of the weights and carried by the interior of the casing, said pivots having their axes arranged in a plane which is normal to the axis of rotation of the casing, each weight having an inwardly extending tooth, a thrust member having an annular surface engaging adjacent faces of said teeth, said annular surface being comprised by an element of a right cone definingvan angle of approximately degrees with respect to the axis of the casing and said tooth faces being curved so as to have rolling contact therewith and the annular conical surface and the tooth faces being so disposed that the points of rolling contact lie in said normal plane of the pivot axes for all positions of the weights, a spring carried by said casing and exerting its force on the thrust member in opposition to the centrifugal effect of said weights, said thrust member being free of said casing and positioned entirely by the spring and points of tooth engagement, a link for transmitting movement due to the axial displacement of said thrust member, and a ball bearing universal connection between the link and the thrust member.

MANIOUS GOT'I'LIEB. 

